A paving machine, such as an asphalt paver, is generally a self-propelled machine designed to receive, convey, distribute, and partially compact paving material, such as asphalt. Typically, the paving machine receives the paving material in a hopper positioned at the front of the machine, conveys the paving material from the hopper to the rear of the machine with parallel slat conveyors, distributes the paving material along a desired width, and compacts the paving material into a mat with a screed. Each slat conveyor that moves the paving material from the receiving hopper to the rear of the paving machine generally consists of two parallel slat chains with a multitude of transverse slats connected therebetween. Each slat chain is pulled by one of two sprockets mounted on a common shaft, which, in turn, is driven by an appropriate power source.
The paving material is typically asphalt, and consists of a black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid. When used in road construction, asphalt usually functions as a binder for a gravel or rock base. The raw material mixture is referred to as a “bituminous aggregate” and the finished road surfacing material is usually called “asphalt concrete.” The bituminous aggregate is typically stored and transported at temperatures around 150° Celsius to prevent hardening. Thus, the conveyor system used to channel the bituminous aggregate through a feeder area of the paving machine needs to withstand exposure to the high temperature and rough gravel or rock particles bound within the aggregate. The feeder floor, in particular, is subject to significant wear caused by the bituminous aggregate and, more specifically, conveyance of the aggregate through the feeder area.
Joseph Vogele AG, a company headquartered in Germany, offers feeder floor wear plates, as shown in the Vogele catalogue page submitted herewith, that may be positioned along the feeder floor. The Vogele wear plates have tabs positioned on outboard sides of the wear plates for engagement with slots formed within the frame of the paving machine. However, the Vogele wear plates do not include any inboard engagement features for “interlocking” laterally positioned plates with one another.
The present disclosure is directed to one or more of the problems or issues set forth above.